Abracastabya

Those old enough to remember Pee-wee’s Big Adventure surely recall being haunted by Danny Elfman’s spooky soundtrack, the demented carnival music heard throughout the movie. A similar eccentric and darkly compelling sensibility informs the moods and sounds of Abracastabya (due at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs on Friday, September 14, with Eyes Caught Fire, the Life There Is and Black Moth Super Rainbow). At times the act’s music waltzes with palpable menace before flaring up with near-hysterical intensity, like a scene out of a classic Dario Argento film. Live, Willow Welter’s melodic, lilting vocals are given a certain edge by her penetrating gaze, while innovative and eclectic rhythms set the pace for the guitars and cello, all of which come together to weave a canopy of sublimely gritty and otherworldly material.